If belief is the big issue at Arsenal these days then a result like this nourishes the faithful. Arsène Wenger often likes to remind us that Arsenal get the wrong kind of kicks up north; victories are far harder to come by. The FA Cup, European Cup and 14 precious league points all went astray upland of Birmingham last season, but there was no northern exposure here.

With Theo Walcott once more to the fore, Arsenal caressed their way through a defence as welcoming as the Blackburn weather, scoring twice before the break to convert the game's remainder to a training exercise. It culminated with Emmanuel Adebayor completing his hat-trick off the telling reverse pass of another young tyro, Aaron Ramsey. 'Very pleasing,' said Wenger. 'We started very late with our training because we had many players at the European Championship, but we are growing now.'

Losing four goals for the second straight League match was down to 'suicidal defending', according to Paul Ince. 'I was tempted to bring myself on. Conceding eight goals in two games is not good - even though we are creating chances, we need to tighten up a bit.'

With Samir Nasri injured on international duty and word swirling around that Tomas Rosicky's recovery from hamstring surgery had developed into a knee problem, Arsenal's team selection had been forced. The rest that Wenger had pondered granting Walcott evaporated as England's Croat killer was posted to the left wing.

'Watch all our games now and see the first tackle on Theo,' warned Wenger after last Wednesday's heroics - if the intention was to intimidate the teenager's marker, it worked. Jay Simpson stood off his challenge the first two occasions Walcott came close; by the third, the right back and two team-mates were clutching air as Walcott created the opener.

Breaking from that knot of markers, Walcott ran parallel with the 18-yard area, drew one more opponent towards him, then picked out Robin van Persie's run into the area. The Dutchman's first touch dragged Paul Robinson from his line and his second dragged the ball across him.

Too much time prevented Arsenal from adding a second before the quarter-hour mark. A Blackburn corner degenerated into a three-on-one counterattack, with Walcott free on the left as Adebayor lolloped onwards. A simple pass set him up on his preferred right foot. The body shape was that of Thierry Henry bending the ball into the far corner. The end product was high, wide and ugly.

Still more unsightly were the tackles Keith Andrews felt fit to inflict upon opponents in his first Premier League start. Straight from his former environment of League One, only Mike Dean's tolerance allowed the birthday boy to escape crude challenges on Van Persie and Cesc Fábregas without the yellow card each deserved.

Consistently creative, Arsenal should again have extended their lead before a carousel of passes culminated with Adebayor's back-post header from a Denilson centre to make it 2-0.

Until this point, there had been more to Blackburn than their scrappy defending, with enough chances created to have been on level terms. Roque Santa Cruz headed one Brett Emerton centre on to William Gallas's scalp, another wide and a third over. Emerton just failed to convert an Andrews cross; and the latter soon returned the favour. Santa Cruz miscued in front of Manuel Almunia, and when the goalkeeper was finally tested he proved equal to Brett Emerton's strike.

Returned to the right to start the second half, Walcott soon skipped past Ryan Nelsen and into familiar penalty-area position. That Zagreb daisycutter, though, escaped him, allowing a man with less pleasant memories of Croatia to save.

Arsenal were now in complete control, Wenger finally able to withdraw Walcott as his team comfortably shuffled possession between them. With 10 minutes remaining, Emmanuel Eboué won a penalty as Stephen Warnock left two legs to be tripped over at the cost of an injury that might keep Eboué out of Wednesday's Champions League tie. Adebayor converted emphatically, then took on Ramsey's fine pass to make it four. By then Wenger had added Jack Wilshere - at 16 years and 256 days, their youngest ever League footballer. 'I bring them out slowly, these English players,' smiled Wenger. 'He's another one who will soon play for you.'

THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT

Paul McGarry, Observer reader

The game turned on their second goal. The first half had been fairly even - we had four or five excellent chances that we didn't take, they had two that they did. After that the second half was a non-event and like the previous game we let in two goals late on from poor defending. The result didn't really reflect the game, but it's exposed broader issues about how Ince has got us set up - we play a lot more openly than under Hughes, which can pay dividends, but the flipside is we look more vulnerable when we haven't got the ball. There are some positives, though - despite conceding four Robinson is doing OK, Reid is looking good in central midfield and Santa Cruz and Roberts caused Arsenal problems in the first half.The fan's player ratings Robinson 6; Simpson 6 (Derbyshire 5), Samba 5, Nelsen 6, Warnock 4; Emerton 6, Andrews 5, Reid 6, Pedersen 6 (Treacy 5); Santa Cruz 6, Roberts 6 (McCarthy 4)

Jeff Cronkshaw, Observer reader

An easy day, really. The first 20 minutes were fairly calm and we just got better and better. Adebayor's hat-trick was overdue and well deserved. His third in particular was fantastic. We weren't pressured at all and the penalty was just waiting to happen. Walcott oozed confidence - he's a different player now from the start of the season. His passing is much more fluent, more confident. I'm surprised he played here, to be honest, but I hope he gets a regular starting place now - we shall see in Kiev. We had some enjoyable banter at Paul Robinson's expense, too, calling him Tottenham's No 2.The fan's player ratings Almunia 7; Sagna 7, Touré 8, Gallas 6, Clichy 8; Eboué 6 (Ramsey n/a), Fábregas 8, Denilson 7, Walcott 9 (Song 8); Van Persie 7 (Wilshere n/a); Adebayor 9